Established in 2017, we showcase podcasts and give you, and the media, another reason to talk about your shows and discover new listeners. New for this year, the British Podcast Awards will be in partnership with PodPod, the podcast industry’s premiere trade publication, and aims to shine a light on the very best the sector has to offer across a wide range of topics and formats.
The BPAs welcome all podcast makers to enter: from big brands to bedroom publishers, charities to comedians... anyone who is helping to build an industry in which we can all be proud. Our categories are fresh and relevant and reviewed reguarly to ensure we are representing the full scope of the market.
Whether you’re part of a major studio or a solo podcaster going it alone, the BPAs is your chance to showcase your skills, promote the great work you’re doing, encourage listeners to try new shows, and provide a space for producers, presenters, sponsors, platforms, writers and performers to have fun.
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All over the world, podcasts are helping creators and audiences connect with each other on the topics they’re passionate about. Whether you’re interested in cooking or crime stories, business growth or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there’s a podcast out there for everyone – and there’s never been a better time to get involved.
PodPod’s editorial mission is to serve the people that make podcasting happen, from the talented professionals in front of and behind the microphone, to the platforms, commissioners, advertisers and media agencies fuelling its explosive growth. We make sense of the strategies and business models that can help you produce, grow and monetise your podcast, and provide expert market analysis allowing advertisers to extract the maximum value from their investments.
PodPod delivers breaking industry news, in-depth insights, expert equipment reviews, and much more. To find out more about how to make podcasting work for you, sign up for our daily bulletin or subscribe to the PodPod Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Diversity and the BPAs
The British Podcast Awards is designed to be open for all - and we actively encourage podcasters from different backgrounds, particularly those underrepresented in other media, in entering the awards. We partner with groups and individuals to encourage submissions from all communities and strive to have balanced and represented judges. We do this to ensure that podcasting keeps its promise of a level playing field for all creators to find their perfect audience - and that, as the medium develops, we don’t lose this unique strength. Below we have listed the ways we intend to do this.
Judging
The British Podcast Awards have always aimed to celebrate and reward podcasts that offer a diversity of perspectives. In a medium less impacted by the usual way programmes are commissioned and produced, we ask our judges to compare entries based on not only their quality and impact, but on their ability to give a voice to others.
Judges are directed to consider to what extent does the podcast provide the listener with valuable information, provide views that are not usually heard in other forms of media and/or gives a platform to stories from people who are not represented in mainstream media? This key question is weighted equally with two others; the quality of the entry, and its impact with the judges and target audience.
“To have George the Poet, podcast royalty hand us the award for Podcast Of The Year was so surreal that it’s taken us weeks to believe it even really happened. Brown Girls Do It Too was a chance for us to write some of the narratives around Asian girls that PornHub was already profiting off. We expected a few girls to listen and winning this award proves that we can tell universal stories that can cross over into the mainstream. What a fucking honour, its been a whirlwind since the win and we are super excited about getting back in the studio to make series 2 and share the stories of the many other brown female experiences in the asian community”
- Poppy & Rubina, co-hosts of Brown Girls Do It Too
Representation
There are several ways we can influence the representation of podcasting in the UK.
In 2022, our judging panel were:
- 38% Black, Asian or another minority ethnic background
- 63% the judging panel are women
- 23% of the judging panel identify as LGBTQ+
Our aims for 2023 are:
- 40% of our judging panel to be Black, Asian or from a minority ethnic background
- At least half the judging panel are women
- Minimum of 10% of the judging panel identify as LGBTQ+
We will do this through selecting a new Chair of Judges every year, who in turn invites ten new judges to join our ranks. From the selections of George The Poet, Helen Zaltzman, Nish Kumar and Miranda Sawyer, we have kept our panel fresh and relevant.
Check out our sister awards around the world
